All-Stars Racing: Transformed
by AuroraAura11
Summary: All-Stars Racing 2013; the world's next revolution. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, the evil Doctor Eggman and 13 other racers are sent verifications to travel the world and race to their heart's content. Now, only if their host Danica Patrick could keep the peace, everything would be perfect... but that's not going to happen anytime soon. This is racing TRANSFORMED, biatch!
1. Prologue - Introduction Night

**Prologue: Introduction Night**

**A/N: Hey guys, AuroraAura11 here! This is my new fanfic "Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed", and yes it is based off the game. I've had this idea swirling around in my head for the past month and just decided that I'll do it. During school and at home, I would be writing on a pad of paper and everyone would be constantly asking "What are you doing?" and I'd be like "I'm not telling :D".**

**There will be some changes to it, for example NiGHTS and Reala won't be the vehicles, there'll only be 20 characters instead of 29 due to confusing plotlines, and only 16 of the 21 tracks will be shown. It's also structured as more of a World Tour with only three tracks displayed in each area. Now that I think about it, it's like a mix between the World Tour and Grand Prix; points are based on positions in a race and nearing the end, I will tally it up to reveal the winner. There will be more understanding of the basic workings of the tournament later on.**

**All I have to say is for now, enjoy the Prologue!**

xxASRTxx

"Ha-ha! Tails, this is going to be flipping AWEsome!"

"Yeah, I agree! I wonder what they'll have in store for us _this_ year!"

"Hopefully I won't be stuck in the same apartment as you again…"

"What did you say about my Sonic?!"

"Ugh…" Sonic quivered at the possessive tone in Amy Rose's voice, hoping to dear Chaos that she didn't start another silly fight over how rude Knuckles was. He was lucky that Tails asked her to sit in the co-pilot's seat before she decided to nuzzle up against his royal blue fur the entire 4-hour flight to the 2013 All-Stars Racing opening night.

In 2009, himself, Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Shadow and Big were all sent verifications from All-Stars Racing revealing that they were nominated to race in the tournament the following year. They all, at first, thought it was one of Eggman's traps, but were amazed to find out that their intentions were pure and totally unrelated to Eggman (who had also received a letter). They signed some contracts (that both Tails and Eggman examined with a fine comb) and were admitted to the tournament in 2010, which Sonic happened to win.

Due to some BIG changes, they didn't receive another letter until two years later (2012), in which they immediately accepted. However, Big didn't receive a letter at all, meaning he wasn't admitted to any future tournaments, and in Sonic's opinion, it was because they could barely construct a car big enough to hold his fat ass, let alone drive without suffering under his beer belly. He guessed that Shadow wasn't accepted either; last time, Shadow hitched a ride with them and Sonic didn't know any other way he would get to the opening night without his _precious_ chaos emerald. What was with mobians and emeralds anyway?

"I'm telling ya, if Rouge dares to _touch_ the Master Emerald or even set foot on Angel Island, I swear to Chaos that I will KILL her a MILLION TIMES OVER!"

Sonic stands corrected…

"Knuckles, I'm sure Rouge has other things to do anyway. You're forgetting that she works for G.U.N.?" The young kitsune reasoned. "Besides, the Chaotix are looking after it."

Knuckles sat back in his seat, still unconvinced with the fact that Tails asked the Chaotix to look after the sacred emerald.

"They're untrustworthy, Tails. Sure, they're good friends, but we all know what they're like."

"Forgetful, idiotic…" Sonic began.

"…careless, negligent, and _materialistic_", Amy finished teasingly.

"Very true, Amy", Sonic sniggered, "You never know, they do get short on money and might just need to sell it on eBay."

The uncomfortable, red echidna lunged forward in his seat.

"WHAT?! THEY BETTER NOT!"

"Sonic, Amy, can you not do this now? I'm trying to concentrate", Tails pleaded to the hedgehogs.

"We were just kidding Knux. If in doubt, trust Espio. He's the one you're putting faith in, not those other two blockheads", Amy coaxed, a lingering sarcasm heard as she finished speaking.

"Amy, I need your help", Tails said, "Do you think you could keep a lookout for any blue blinkers?"

"Blinkers?" The male hedgehog questioned.

"Since we got lost last time, they've decided to put up guides that'll lead us to the touchdown zone", Tails explained.

"I see it! Over to your left." The males followed the red-clad hedgehog's gaze to witness a massive, red blimp with a holographic blue arrow pointing them in the right direction.

"Wow, could they be more obvious if they tried?" Knuckles mumbled to himself.

"Well, at least we know where to go this time, Mr I-know-which-direction-we're-going-in-so-don't-cal l-me-stupid!" Amy growled. Cobalt's chest began shaking as he tried to hold in what felt like a mixture of hiccupping and being tickled by the non-existent butterflies in his tummy. Knuckles' face graduated into a deep vermilion.

"Sh-shut up! And stop laughing!"

Hearing the backseat hedgehog fall into a pit of laughter and more anger coming from the spiky monotreme, Tails sighed so deep he felt the atmosphere around him being sucked into his lungs.

'Here we go again…'

xxASRTxx

Ulala stared at the girl talking with the new host of the All-Stars Racing tournament. Beginning with the thick, black-soled, white go-go boots, her peach legs were constricted with tan fishnet stockings and held together with a flared, blue mini-skirt. Matching her skirt was a mid-drift top with a circular design on the breast cups. Tattooed onto the left side of her chest was the number 42 in bold pink. Her arms were covered with white elbow-length gloves similar to her own and she adorned a blue, leather neckband. Her jade Jamaican-styled hair was pulled up into a blue beehive hair bun and the strands reached her middle back, where it met a cyan jetpack. Blue headphones complimented her eyes and the rest of her outfit while lips were a full fuchsia.

This girl was none other than her rival reporter Pudding from Space Channel 42. Because of some devil's wish, she was asked to enter the All-Stars Racing tournament too. And to think she could get away from her narcissistic views.

The sound of an incoming hum whipped her out of her reverie and she turned towards the runway to witness a customised, silver fighter jet land professionally onto the asphalt strip of land. Just as it stopped, a blue streak sped out of the jet and down to the end of the runway where it ceased movement to reveal a blue, spiky creature wearing red/white striped shoes. The small mammal stretched out its arms to reveal white gloves over its cream hands. Pivoting 180°, it ran over to skid in front of Ulala. He looked up at her with his jungle-splashed eyes.

"Ooh-la-la!" Ulala started giggling.

"Girrrrrl, how've you been doin'? You look fahne (fine)!" Sonic clowned, earning a fair degree of merriment from the pink-haired girl.

"You are a total clown, have I told you that?" Ulala joked, waving to the other mammals as they exited Tails' X-Tornado.

"Mmm, vaguely remember…" He flashed his happy/excited smile and leaned next to her against the wall, waiting on their friends.

"So, how was the flight?" Sonic grimaced at the question.

"Horrible! I had to put up with those two for 4 hours", he exclaimed, pointing at the pink hedgehog and red echidna that were currently fighting over the luggage. Glancing up at her, he saw a smile pencil its way onto her slimmed face.

"Don't you start laughing now-"

"Aren't you forgetting who you're sitting next to on your way to Sunshine Coast?" The poor hedgehog slowly stared up at her, shock settling in his expression, "And how long is that flight going to take?"

A few seconds silence…

"FUUUU-

xxASRTxx

The 17 racers walked to the entrance. They crossed a bridge with a glowing stream passing underneath. They all spilled into the circular courtyard where the opening night was going to take place. The lush grass was lightened by exterior spotlights and a grand stage was erected under a cover in the case of rain, which there was none. They waited impatiently for 5 minutes until a smaller spotlight came up on a human. She was tall with dark chocolate hair, wearing a green jumpsuit rimmed with white and covered in trademark images. In her right hand she held a cordless microphone and tucked under her left arm was a matching green and white helmet.

"**Good evening racers! I am proud to welcome you to the All-Stars Racing Championship 2013!"**

A loud cheer scattered with whoops and hollers was her reply.

"**My name… is Danica Patrick and I will be your host for this revolution. For all of you that have recently joined us this year, I give you a warm welcome from All-Stars. For all of you that returned from last year **_**and**_** other previous years, I welcome you back. And you're all in for a **_**special treat**_**.**

"**Here at All-Stars, we pride ourselves in our efforts and every year, we accomplish at making the next year differ from the last. This change was **_**so**_** GREAT that it took us an EXTRA year to finalise everything to **_**acute**_** precision."**

Danica could just feel the anticipation radiating from the racers.

"**Now, I could stand up here and give you more formalities, or… I could just SHOW you. So, what do you think guys? Should I just **_**show**_** you what I mean?"**

"Yes!"

"**Oh, come on guys! That wasn't good enough! I said "do you want me to show you?"!"**

"HELL YES!"

"**Now **_**that's**_** what I like to hear!"**

Suddenly, the girl in the green jumpsuit tossed the microphone to a stage set-up crew member and ran backstage. A red cloth was whipped off the object behind her to reveal a mega screen. It began a slideshow of mechanics working accompanied by a beat. It went for about a minute before it switched to a live camera view of a starting line.

The lights on the starting line went up and three pimped-out cars came into view. The one on the left was a purple Chevrolet that slowly graduated into a pinkish colour. Down the sides of it were blue fern patterns and green/yellow sparkles. The racer was none other than the famed NiGHTS. In the centre sat a lime green formula 1 car with Danica behind the wheel. If you looked closely at her vehicle, you would realise that it wasn't green, but white covered in green flames. Like her jumpsuit, the car was plastered with logos and names. The last on the right was a cold steel tank-like vehicle. Rimmed with red and black bumpers, the most recognisable thing was the G.U.N. logo expertly painted onto the front hood of the vehicle. The vehicle had tinted windows, so it was hard to tell who the driver was.

Astonished chatter was heard from the audience of 17 and as the beat dropped, the cars flew down the track in a blur of green/white, purple/pink and red/grey. Jaws dropped at the handling of the vehicles and pupils dilated at the pure speed they possessed. It almost sounded like they were heading towards them.

Registered shock came to the racers when they realised the vehicles drove on a track they were in the centre of. In the darkness of the night, they could vaguely see a lit-up race track with moving objects on them. Excitement pulsated from the adrenaline junkies at the thought of seeing these changes first-hand.

The screen switched to a split-screen view of the interior drivers and the track in the bottom right corner. In the top left was Danica's cheeky face, in the bottom left was a gleeful, chuckling NiGHTS and in the top right was…

"Hey, it's Shadow!" screamed Sonic, "And he's smiling! Is this a _dream_?!"

And sure enough, in the top right corner was a smirking Shadow. Those who knew of Shadow were astounded to see the usually-introverted and serious hedgehog showing a positive emotion so openly.

The drivers looked at the cameras and started pointing upward. Sonic was confused until he heard a drone coming from behind him and looking up, the miraculous sight of planes caused his heart to back-track like the rewind of a cassette tape. They zoomed through the night skies above with mastery and began manoeuvring around each other like how a strand of DNA would. They performed corkscrews, evasive manoeuvres, loop-de-loops and then plummeted to the ground below. Tails was in shock at the event that followed.

Passing through a holographic blue ring, the cars changed planes… transformed! The wings of the planes mechanically reverted back into the body, wheels folded inwards and rockets were replaced with motor propellers. The planes transformed into boats!

They raced donuts around the river that surrounded them before transforming back into cars as they reached land. Drifting to a stop, the strange vehicles kicked up the dust in perfect synchronisation with each other and the 17 racers watching on cheered passionately in complete awe. Danica, Shadow and NiGHTS stepped out of their vehicles and the same stage set-up crew member came over, handing the microphone back to Danica. She took off her helmet and swapped with the young boy, holding the microphone up to her lips.

"**Ladies and gentlemen, and Sonic, I present to you… All-Stars Racing TRANSFORMED!"**


	2. Chapter 1 - Flight To Sunshine Coast

**Chapter 1: Flight to Sunshine Coast**

**Hey there! Second chapter is finally up and running after countless hours of writer's block. I'm so sorry for those I've kept waiting and would just like to say a massive THANK-YOU for all your support. I had to change the categories from Sega Superstars to a cross-over between Sega Superstars and Sonic the Hedgehog due to lack of viewing. I would also like to say a big thankyou to AsSafeAsSnape, because without her support, I probably wouldn't have got this up this soon.**

**I would also like to point out that the taxi driver has a lisp and I don't know how long I spent correcting it to sound exactly like it looks. It's supposed to be misspelt, and I don't have anything against people with lisps either.**

**I've also made two or three references to certain events that happened in Sonic the Hedgehog, and I've also made a true fact about Reala that is placed at the end. Review in the comments if you know of the references. Don't cheat!**

**In conclusion, I would just like to mention that either next chapter or the chapter afterwards the first race will start. It will be a fairly short chapter, but it'll be worth it, trust me! Why are you still reading this?! Get reading, my little munchkins!**

"Why do we have to take taxis again?" Vyse looked over to the girl called Pudding, "Don't we deserve a bit better than _this_ Danica? I mean, really…" Danica glanced up from the loose documents she was studying.

"Pudding, it isn't that bad, is it? They're just taxis; it's not like their driving us down the path to Hell. Just calm down a bit-"

"I'm perfectly fine!" she cut off angrily, gaining the attention of the old taxi driver and the black hedgehog in the front. An awkward silence stretched out for several minutes before Danica turned away from her papers a second time to stare at the pouting, blue-clad reporter next to her. Vyse took note of how her lips drew a sharp line; the unimpressed school teacher face. He's seen it _way_ too many times to forget how it ended.

He swept his sepia eyes over the rest of the cab. Danica sat next to him in the middle, separating him from the moody girl and Shadow sat in the front with the taxi driver, not really giving him any company. They were the odd group – the others took taxis with their friends. Sonic, Knuckles, Beat and his friend Gum were together; AiAi, his friend MeeMee, Amigo and Alex Kidd were a group; Dr Eggman, a metal copy of Sonic dubbed Metal Sonic (go figure), a red, flying jester called Reala and a big guy named Ralph were a pack; Tails, Amy, Ulala and a purple, flying jester called NiGHTS got a taxi; then there was them.

'We definitely have some variety', the rogue thought, sneaking a look at everyone. Danica was the enthusiastic one, Pudding was the princess, he was the friendly but lonely one and Shadow was the introvert.

'Although', he pondered, shooting a quick glance at the midnight-black hedgehog, 'he _was_ smiling last night…'

**~Flashback~**

"_Hey, it's Shadow!" screamed Sonic, "And he's __**smiling**__! Is this a __**dream**__?!"_

**~Flashback~**

To say Vyse was confused would be an understatement. Sonic said that like it was rare to see him smile. 'But his smile was so natural and carefree-'

"Do you _mind_?" Vyse was snapped out of his thoughts by an irate Shadow. "I don't particularly _like_ being stared at…" Shadow seethed through his teeth with a steely tone. He then realised he was ogling Shadow while he was zoned out.

"Uh… sorry. I-I didn't mean to… s-sorry…" The Blue Rogue fumbled on his words, unable to think of a way to calm the irritated spikeball. Truth be told, Vyse really hated making people mad or upset unless they had done the same to him before. He'd only met Shadow last night and didn't want vendettas against him before the racing had even started. He could only hope he accepted his apology.

A hand on his shoulder caused his thinking pattern to halt as he turned to the brunette. She smiled in a motherly way, patting him twice before twisting her head towards the taxi driver.

"How far away from the airport do you think we are?" she asked politely.

"It's jutht to tha left of thith round-'bout Mithy", he replied in a gruff voice with a lisp. "Then you can all be out of thith "death mathine"." Vyse hid a smirk as he watched Pudding's expression change as she listened to the voice.

Pulling up at the entrance to the airport like countless other cabs and carpoolers, they stepped out of the yellow vehicle and went to open the boot. The driver came around to help with the luggage, but was quickly shooed by the reporter as he pulled one of her various suitcases out of the car. Vyse felt sorry for the poor old man, imagining how he'd feel if this happened to himself day in and day out. When everything was removed from the boot and sat safely on the sidewalk, Danica handed him two $20 notes - allowing him to keep the change – and watched him mechanically drive back to the city they came from.

Shadow pointed out to Danica that AiAi, MeeMee, Amigo and Alex Kidd had already arrived and having dilemmas with paying their grumpy taxi driver (they're three monkeys and a kid) and Danica went over to assist them. Soon after, the taxi containing Dr Eggman, Metal Sonic, Reala and Ralph arrived, swiftly followed by Sonic, Knuckles, Beat and Gum. The last to reach their destination were Tails, Amy, Ulala and NiGHTS, whom had come across some issues along the way.

"Well, _that_ was a bumpy ride", Tails pronounced shakily, stumbling out the passenger door and collapsing onto Sonic. "I don't think I've felt _this_ queasy since Eggman's Ultra-Accelerating Space Elevator."

Sonic revolved into a fit of giggles, watching as Amy and Ulala toppled out of the backseat. However, NiGHTS seemed unaffected, calmly floating out and helping the girls onto their wobbly legs.

After they recovered from their little joyride and had obtained their bags before paying, the racers walked into the airport and sat in the reserved area to await further instructions from their female host.

"Are you all prepared for the flight guys?" Danica queried, chuckling at the chorus of complaints that followed.

"It's going to take _ages_", Sonic whined, "and _apparently_, I have to sit next to Amy _and_ Eggman!"

"But, don't you want to sit next to me Sonic?" Amy questioned the downcast hedgehog.

"Yeah, Sonic", Beat piped up, Knuckles quietly laughing behind him, "she _is_ your girlfriend after all."

"Ugh, stahp Beat, _STAHP_!"

"I'm _not_ in the mood to listen to crying babies and restless children for _6 ½ hours_ straight", Pudding nagged.

"We _better not_ be flying in the economy class", Amy criticised.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA GUYS!" Danica exclaimed, "Who ever said we'd be flying in the economy class, or listening to babies _at all_?!" This gained the attention of all.

"Just because I made you take taxis, that _doesn't_ mean we'll be on an ordinary plane. Vyse", Danica gained his attention, "and Tails", said fox smiled, "have something _better_ in-store for you…"

Whispers went around the 17 other racers, causing nervousness to tug at Vyse's anxiety. Tails ran up to him, looking more pumped than tense. Vyse just let him talk, preferring not to be the centre of attention.

"This was more Vyse's idea than mine, but we've devised a genius plan that we believe all of you will enjoy. We _won't_ be taking a plane today", a series of "What's" and "Huh's" followed, "instead, we'll be taking a jet."

"A private jet", Vyse added, seeing faces lit up with excitement.

"Oh my God! A _private_ jet?!" Ulala exclaimed, gobsmacked at the thought.

"Yes, winning!" Pudding yelled, jumping up and down.

"And Sonic, a little newsflash for you, you're allowed to walk around on jets", Tails told the restless hedgehog.

"Well, thank Chaos for that", Sonic grinned, along with the rest, "So, where is this private jet of yours Vyse?"

**xxASRTxx**

"Welcome to your temporary home, All-Stars." They're hearts stopped for the second time that week.

On the outside, the jet had a sleek, snow-white design. On the inside, it was totally different. They ambled dreamily into the dining room, where a long, pistachio green table covered with ceramic dinner plates, silver cutlery and various bottles of wine and spirits had been set upon cream/apple-green linoleum. Placed around the table were twenty leather, asparagus-green swivel seats with a cream, plush pillow sat upon them. The outside and backs of the chair were a sterling silver, along with the base of the table, which basically looked like a long board sat upon a smaller, silver rectangle. Above the table hung a magnificent pale-green chandelier that was adorned with crystal balls (they appeared to be a lighting decoration). Behind the end chair was a spacer wall that had a built-in flat screen showing a map of their current destination and the flight path the jet would be taking.

The flooring on the plane was a polished timber panelling with vector lines that took their eyes down the jet to land on the "lounge room". Three beige couches sat in a square formation around a copper-coloured coffee table, facing an identical spacer wall with another built-in flat screen showing exactly the same as the one in the "dining room". Additionally, there were several tables and lamps around the plane.

Going further through, they came to two doors: the left one went into a sparkling kitchen and the right one stretched out into a linear hallway lined with more panelling and the most incredible feature wall. Black mosaic tiles accentuated the beauty of a mosaic wave decorated with every colour possible and spots on the wall were lightened due to the sunlight filtering through the circular windows that dotted the entire perimeter of the plane.

Reaching the end of the hallway, the way-past-impressed racers entered the last two rooms: the "bedroom" and the bathroom. Moulded around the walls of the bedroom was an elongated, cherry-red lounge and in the centre sat a black spacer wall with two crimson-red beds on each side. The ceiling was covered in red tiles and the floor had pure white carpeting. They were asked to place their luggage in this room, with only Amy, Ulala, Pudding, Gum, Alex, Tails and Danica allowed to share the four beds, as the others could cope with "crashing on the sofa". Connected to the "bedroom" on the right hand side was the bathroom, complete with two showers, a large spa-bath, a separate toilet and a vanity that stretched down one side of the bathroom. There was also a cupboard filled with bath towels and warm blankets for extra comfort.

Walking back out into the bedroom, Danica and the flight attendant conducting the tour turned to the jaw-dropped racers.

"So, what do you think guys? Give me a rating on how good this place is!"

"This is definitely fitting for a genius like myself", Eggman boasted, earning a few glares.

"Yeah, too bad they won't let you sleep in the beds though, Eggy. They're probably afraid that your blubber butt will bend it out of shape", Sonic joked, laughing along with Knuckles, Amy, Amigo, Ulala, Beat, NiGHTS and Reala. Vyse and Tails were hiding their amusement like amateurs, while Shadow showed no emotion at all, despite the irony of the situation. Eggman just pretended he didn't hear the rude comment.

"Well, personally, I think it's absolutely breath-taking", Amy half-whispered, still in awe.

"The view's probably epic", Beat enunciated, nudging his long-time friend, "What do you think, Gum?"

"Uh, well it's stylish, I guess", Gum muttered, mostly distracted by her thoughts.

"Wait a minute", Knuckles articulated, gaining everyone's attention, "Who's flying the jet?"

"Right, thanks for reminding me, Knux", Danica voiced, the rage-coloured echidna going redder than his fur.

"You don't have the right to call me Knux!" The All-Stars racers wondered back into the dining room, taking a seat at the long conference/dinner table with Danica at the head.

"This flight goes for around 12 hours, so all of you will want to get comfortable. Vyse and Tails will fly the jet for 6 hours before Tails switches with Shadow. Vyse and Shadow will fly the jet for another 3 hours before Vyse retires for the rest of the flight, leaving Metal Sonic to sit co-pilot. Before we leave, it's compulsory to give you a safety briefing. My lovely flight attendant, Aurora Sparks, is here to provide a demonstration."

Aurora went over the safety instructions, giving a demonstration on how to apply oxygen masks stored above the conference table and how to wear the aircraft's life preserver, made aware to those on-board where the emergency exits were and how certain procedures would be performed, and asked if any of them had any cardiovascular illnesses or if any of the women were pregnant, which had a hilarious response from the immature males of the group.

With everything went over, the flight attendant bid the racers a farewell and luck for the races ahead. As she left, the service chefs that were preparing dinner came out and announced to them that the entrée would be served in less than an hour, at around 7:30.

All gathered at the windows to watch the mechanic dove take off into the darkening sky.

**xxASRTxx**

With all the underage racers and those who don't drink retired for the night (Amy, Metal Sonic, AiAi, MeeMee, Pudding, Beat, Gum, NiGHTS, Ralph and Alex), the others (Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, Eggman, Amigo, Ulala, Reala and Danica) relaxed in the lounge room with some wine and champagne.

"I can't believe NiGHTS still doesn't drink, despite being a few hours older than me", Reala scolded, sitting his champagne glass of red wine down on the coffee table in front of him, being careful to keep it out of Amigo's reach.

"Woah, is NiGHTS older than you?" Knuckles queried, confusion laced in his tone.

"Heh, well it just proves that the younger you are these days, the more mature you get", he hummed, swiftly kicking Amigo's hand away from his glass.

"I'm just surprised that Alex could devour that much food! I mean, did he have thirds? I could barely swallow half of that steak!" Ulala pondered, gaining a response from cobalt.

"Hey, he's a growing boy. Soon we'll be calling him Alex "Man"."

"I had to admit, seeing him eat that much made me stop", the red jester added, acting like he was going to throw up. Eggman began cackling, but ended up wheezing.

"Jeez Eggman, you're getting worse every time I see you. I swear, you scared the rings out of me when you just decided to cough down my ear", Sonic frowned, Knuckles giggling a bit drunkenly.

"I must confess, Doctor, your health is slowly decomposing", the silent hedgehog stated, taking an elegant sip from his Chardonnay.

"Now you two, don't start worrying about me when we're supposed to be arch nemesis'", the mad scientist reprimanded sternly. Danica was soon to pitch in, along with a sound of agreement from the Mexican monkey. "Alright, ALRIGHT! You've made your point clear, although there's nothing much I can do about it at this stage in time. I'll have to wait until I return from the tournament."

"Well, I think now it's time for a toast, what do you say?" Danica raised her glass of champagne, the others following suit, "Sonic, why don't you start?" Said hedgehog blinked.

"Um, okay. To the following friendships about to be created…?"

"To the rise of popularity in racing", Reala toasted.

"To the future All-Stars racers", Ulala pronounced.

"To whomever wins the end title", Eggman suggested, narcissistically referring to himself.

"To the advance in technology since the last tournament", Shadow declared.

"To booze and alcohol…" Knuckles slurred.

"To the 2013 All-Stars Racing: Transformed, and to the start of something new", Danica finished off, "To a new beginning…"

"To a new beginning!" the others cheered in unison, their glasses meeting with a soft clink.


	3. Chapter 2 - Hilarity, Meet Your Vehicles

**Chapter 2 – Hilarity Ensues / Meet Your Vehicles**

**Can't write much here because I'm writing this late on a school night! Next chapter will be the first race! Yay! It is Ocean View, if you know what that is! OKAY, gotta go, BYE!**

**Disclaimer: All characters used or mentioned in this story are copyrighted by SEGA, Walt Disney, etc. and in no way, shape or form do I intend to abuse their use. Only the plot belongs to me and I just hope I've got most character's personalities down! Tell me if I haven't and I'll correct it! Enjoy!**

The time was 6:50pm, and all watched as the runway slowly shrunk before disappearing altogether. After ten minutes, the plane was already high in the sky, zooming in-between large, darkening cloud formations with the ease and precision of a swooping falcon.

"The view from here is spectacular!" NiGHTS breathed happily in her British accent, "This feeling reminds me of the time I visited that dream world with Elliot while running from Second-Level Nightmarens."

"What was it like?" Amy wondered, gazing off into the far-away horizon.

"It was always night there, the moon was big and illuminated the silver grass below. There were moonlight lilies too."

"What are moonlight lilies?" Ulala queried.

"They're violet flowers that only sprouted under the moon. They wilt under the sun", she replied thoughtfully, "I vaguely remember glowing moss on some of the trees."

"Wow, your world sounds _way_ different from mine."

"Hey, give that back, Beat! Don't be a jerk!" The three girls turned away from the window to see the usually-reserved Gum chasing a cheeky-faced Beat around the table.

"I didn't know you liked poetry! _"My melting, candlewax soul…"_ oh how _very_ dramatic!"

"Give it _back_!" Gum's blush deepened, horribly humiliated at the events happening.

"Give the book back to her, Beat! Don't be dog!" Amy hollered at him. A thump was heard in the background.

Suddenly, a yellow blur streaked past Beat, effectively snatching the book from his hands.

"What the fudgesickles?" The blur stopped in front of Gum, calmly handing the notebook back to the shocked girl.

"Um, thanks Shadow…" He silently strolled back to the table, picking up the chair he knocked over and plonking back down to read the novel he had with him. Gum turned to Beat, a murderous glint in her sienna eyes. Beat stepped back four paces, before running for the security of the lockable toilet, Gum in fast pursuit, but now clutching the book protectively to her chest.

"Aw, did I miss the fun?" Sonic moped, disappointment plainly shown, "We could hear you from the cockpit, you know."

"Beat stole some book from Gum that apparently had poetry in it. He was just teasing, though", Ulala explained.

"Yeah, and he's going to get wacked now because Shadow got the book back and now she's furious. He ran into the bathroom for safety", Amy giggled, mentioned hedgehog swivelling his ear around at the acknowledgement of his name.

"Oh", Sonic turned to the Ultimate Lifeform, wearing the smile that warns those of the sneaky thoughts running through his mind. He sauntered over to the hedgehog, stopping him as he tried to escape from the snarky 21yr old. "_Really_, Shadow? I didn't know you cared about her enough to retrieve her book from the _horrid_ Beat-monster. Her knight in shining fur, huh? _Wink-wink_!"

Shadow shot daggers at the suggestive tone in his voice. "No, Faker. Don't even think about it."

"Can I be your wingman?"

"No!" The livid mammal tackled the other male, pinning him down. Sonic gasped, sarcastically and due to the force.

"Oh, _Shadow_! I understand now, you _naughty_ hedgehog, you!"

"No, you obviously DON'T understand! You're just being a pain!"

"A pain in your _ass_, Shadow?! Ha-ha!"

"Uh, Shadow? I think he's trying to ask if you're in H-E-A-T…" NiGHTS cautiously spelled out.

Shadow growled deeply in understanding and fury, lifting the obnoxious, squirming, blue hedgehog up and literally hurling him across the room and into the lounge room, where he landed head-first onto Knuckles' sleeping form.

"What the?! _Sonic_! What the CHAOS are you _doing_?! Get _off_ me!" Knuckles flung the hedgehog to the opposite couch, Sonic settling into an upside-down pose with his legs swung over the back of the couch.

"Why won't people stop _throwing_ me today?! _Jeez_, you two are moody…"

**xxASRTxx**

Within 20 minutes, the head chef had ordered that they be sitting at the long, pale-green table to wait for their entrée. The order had went like this: Danica sat at the head of the table, her back facing the large flat screen showing an animated plane slowly inching along a dotted line that went off-screen. From her point of view, Sonic sat on her left, along with Amy, Knuckles, Ralph, Eggman, Metal Sonic, Reala and Shadow. Pudding sat on her right, along with NiGHTS, Ulala, Beat, Gum, Amigo, Alex, AiAi and MeeMee. Tails and Vyse were absent from dinner due to piloting the aircraft, alternatively having dinner brought to them by the head chef.

Said chef wandered out to the hungry racers, followed by four other chefs holding eight of their meals. "The entrée is served. It is a creamed corn, bacon and chive frittata."

Their meals were placed down in front of them in the appearance of a small, flat, yellow pie with bacon cooked through it, covered in chives and giving off an amazing scent. On the side sat a small pile of fresh spinach.

"Bon appetite, All-Stars."

The taste was just as amazing as the smell. Even Eggman had to admit his robots couldn't cook a meal like the one sitting in front of him, acquiring a sound of displeasure from Metal Sonic, not just for the careless comment, but because he couldn't eat the meal either. It was happily taken from him by the plump man he was forced to call "Master".

Once 40 minutes had passed, two waiters collected the finished platters just as the chefs came out with the main course: Braised Beef Braciole stuffed with Basil and Mozzarella. The aesthetics were two slices of a crisp, thinly-cut steak packed with a rich stuffing, served with roasted vegetables, salad and a relish tray. The flavour was prominent in the hearty dish, leaving them with a pleasantly satiated feeling. In fact, Alex loved it so much that he offered to finish off anyone else's dish, just for the sake of chewing the tenderised steak that left juices rolling along his taste buds. At the sight of this, however, Reala's face contorted into a look of disgust.

Up the other end of the table, _friendly_ discussion began on the happenings the following day.

"We'll touchdown at around 7:30 tomorrow. An announcement will sound at 6:50 as an early alarm and a second alarm will sound at 7am", the brunette explained, gaining the attention of the others.

"6:50? In the morning?!" Pudding complained, slumping in her seat. Ulala made an attempt at holding in a laugh, but unfortunately, a giggle bubbled its way up her throat and slipped out. Pudding's eyes suddenly hardened, like the temperature dropped and solidified her ocean-blue eyes into two sharp and oh-so-deadly icicles, ready to drop onto the next being that walked under her radar. Silence descended upon the group and the air grew humidly thick, but bone-chilling. Sensing the impending danger, Danica stringed on from her previous sentence, but was harshly cut off.

"Don't worry, Pudding. I'm sure that it won't-"

"And _what_ is so _funny_, _Ulala_? HUH?!"

Ulala snorted crudely. "I think you can go without a beauty sleep for once."

Pudding growled, abruptly standing up from where she sat and walked off in the direction of the bedroom, NiGHTS following close behind.

"Wait Pudding! You'll miss dessert…"

"I don't _care _about dessert! Stop following me!" NiGHTS floated sadly back to her seat between the previously quarrelling women, one empty seat on her left. Looking across the table, the young she-hog gave her a sympathetic look, nudging Sonic in anger at his lack of sympathy. He shot NiGHTS a look of empathy, mouthing "I know" to the purple, first-level nightmaren. Her sadness quickly subsided and she chortled at Sonic's antics, much to the confusion of Amy.

The tension slowly faded and conversation grew light as the dessert was provided: Crème Brûlée with assorted berries and nuts. It was definitely the highlight of the night. Shadow would've enjoyed it more if it weren't for Reala and his probing questions.

"Why are you so quiet? Are you emo or something?" Reala took great pleasure in harassing others into insanity – he did it a lot to NiGHTS and loved the reactions every time.

Swallowing his delectable fork-full of berries and caramelised mousse, Shadow made no attempt in hiding his annoyance by boring into the idiot's heartless eyes with great intensity. It didn't work, due to Reala's immunity to death glares, whom was awarded many from Wizeman on a daily basis. It didn't scare him anymore, and according to Reala, Shadow was just pouting.

"Yep, _definitely_ emo. Or are you one of those "lone wolf" types that act all tough and mighty, but in reality are just _weak_?"

"Your words don't faze me. But call me weak again and I'll dislocate your neck so bad that you're going to need a map to find it!" Shadow snapped back in a quiet hiss, as to not gain any more attention, but caught the eyes of the three "children" of the 18 racers present. Amigo was too busy with stuffing the meal into his wide mouth to notice.

"Gee, he's scary!" Alex whispered to AiAi, carefully eyeing off the irate hedgehog.

"Well, did you see him throw Sonic? That was dangerous! He could've died!" AiAi softly whimpered, MeeMee joining in on the hushed exchanging of words.

"I wouldn't wanna get in a fight with him", MeeMee murmured, taking a nut off her plate and popping it in her mouth, "You'd be asking for death."

Slowly, the individuals sitting at the long table dispatched in groups, heading in the direction of the sleeping quarters. They bid each other goodnight, before falling into a deep sleep.

**xxASRTxx**

Tails shuffled out of the cockpit, rubbing his weepy eyes and killing for a good 6hr sleep. Unaware of the possible danger from his following actions, he wandered into the bedroom and proceeded in waking the Ultimate Lifeform. Shadow awoke in a confused daze before regaining his composure and glancing at his waker.

"Time to switch, Shadow…" Miles Prower mumbled tiredly, irritably flicking the bangs that kept tickling his eyelids away from his face, but to no avail. Yawning into his hand, Shadow stood up, letting the blanket fall off his lithe body. He involuntarily shook at the flush of cool air that hit his warm body, cursing inwardly at his visible vulnerability. Luckily, Tails had already fallen asleep in his place, stealing the heated spot that Shadow originally accommodated. Pushing back his jealousy, he pulled the blanket over the curled-up kit and staggered to the other side of the jet plane, his abrasive side grumbling about how soft he's becoming. Cracking his hands and wrists, he accommodated the cockpit seat next to a dreary-looking air pirate.

"Good morning…" Vyse joked groggily, checking the altitude meter with an inspective glance.

"Humph." Shadow cracked his neck, the bones making an audible pop before converting to 'work mode'. Content with the standard of the flying vehicle, he sat back in his seat, wiping his eyelids with ungloved palms before focusing on the early morning skies.

Vyse studied the less-composed hedgehog out the corner of his eye. Red-striped quills were slightly tousled, a hazy look settling in his crimson irises and a pair of loose, grey tracksuit pants sat upon his hips. The Rogue looked away as Shadow focused on him.

"Did you have a nice sleep?" Vyse began some small talk to fill the hypothetical void in the cockpit. Stripes nodded, too tired to make an attempt of replying. Vyse shrugged off the callous attitude and thought of something to say. He never was good with initiating conversation – it was probably even harder now, since Shadow didn't seem like he would bother. He then thought of something to say, but it would be hard.

"Hey, Shadow?"

"Mm, what?"

The human boy spoke quietly, so it was a struggle for Shadow to listen to his words. He made out the word "sorry", though.

"Sorry for what?" he replied sluggishly.

"For what happened in the taxi. I didn't mean to stare at you… I was just thinking about stuff and…" he trailed off, turning towards the truth, "I just don't want to make a bad first impression, okay? I'd rather have rivals after the first race than before we've even _arrived_ at Sunshine Coast-"

"I forgave you." Vyse went silent, registering what emitted from the co-pilot's mouth. He wasn't sure what he heard was correct, so he asked again.

"You… forgave me? When?"

"I forgot to acknowledge the fact, but yes, I forgave you. I don't hold grudges against people I barely know. The only rivals I have are the Faker, that damn echidna, Dr Eggman and Reala."

Vyse was thankful for that piece of information, but now he wanted to hear more.

"You hold a grudge against Reala? But, Sonic told me you two were talking all afternoon."

"Well, that's a load of bullshit."

**xxASRTxx**

A blaring alarm sounded throughout the bedroom, startling the rudie awake. Shaking his head to clear the ringing in his ears, he shifted his sallow eyes around to find others abruptly being awakened from their sleep, similar to himself. Gum, however, was still asleep, despite the loud whirr of the alarm. A little fact Beat knew about her: she was deaf when she slept. Someone had to physically shake her awake and Beat personally scheduled that job for himself while they were away from the GGs (Graffiti Gang memberS). True to his promise, he climbed onto her sleeping form and tugged at her hair. Finally, after 5mins of pulling at her cheeks and hair, her eyelids rose to reveal bloodshot, sienna eyes, glaring at the red-head kneeling atop her.

"I'm awake now. Do you mind _getting off_?!" Gum howled at him, shoving him off her and onto the floor. Those that were in the room jumped at the sound of him hitting the carpet below. After she got up, more wrestling resumed between the two before Gum went into the vacant bathroom to change. Beat began on repacking his bag, which literally defined to him as stuffing his clothes into big balls and shoving them in the small backpack he owned.

Gum promenaded out of the bathroom in a blue and cream dress with a Japanese logo on it. He took note of the many different colours she had of that style of dress and how she favourite the green one more than the others. She hadn't put her cap on yet, so her short, blonde hair lined the nape of her neck.

She forgot to hide the scar trailing down her jugular.

As she looked at him, he pointed silently to the mark, throwing her the blue cap that matched the dress. In a state of horror, she was fast to thrust it over her cranium and double-check in the bathroom mirror to see if it was covered. Beat saw the thankyou in her deeply-expressive eyes as she rushed out, hearing the second waking alarm echo off the walls. They, along with Amy, Tails, Ralph and Alex, wandered out down the hallway, past the beautiful mural and into the lounge room, leaving Pudding, Amigo, Eggman and Vyse to their precious sleep and coming across NiGHTS having a verbal spat with Reala after he seemed to have "accidentally" spilt milk over her shoulders and down her vest _and_ shirt. Likewise, and strangely, MeeMee was squealing and screaming at Knuckles because he stepped on her foot "on purpose". Knuckles was getting irritated and a vein grew in the side of his head.

"My Chaos, shut your Minnie Mouse voice up and shoo! You're like a broken record", Knuckles growled, being dragged away by Sonic.

"I sound NOTHING like Minnie Mouse!" MeeMee retorted in her Minnie Mouse voice, being dragged away by AiAi.

Sonic apologised to AiAi for Knuckles' hurtful words against his sister. AiAi also apologised, stating that his sister was just overreacting, as to be expected from the "drama queen". Turning back to the first quarrel, Beat was surprised when he saw NiGHTS had disappeared along with Gum. Walking back into the bedroom and passing a drowsy Vyse, he heard their voices in the bathroom, along with another's. He guessed it to be Pudding's. Amigo and Eggman were standing in front of the locked door listening to the vulgar language with shock plastered across their faces. Beat shared a jaw-dropped look with them as they heard unspeakables emit from the nightmaren. It had obviously stained her fur and a hissing sound began, pointing towards the notion that someone was in the shower. Eggman ambled off, mumbling about a woman's profanities whereas Amigo was a statue in the middle of the room, eyes bulging from the words he heard.

Beat sat in his seat at the table, shaking his head as he whispered to Ulala all the words he heard them say.

"Wow… I am speechless! I never thought NiGHTS swore like that."

"Well, Reala did pour milk on her like she was a bowl of cereal. You gotta give her _some_ leeway", Beat reasoned, stealing a quick glance at the innocent-acting nightmaren eating at the far end of the table.

Soon, Danica emerged from the confines of the kitchen, thanking the chefs for their hospitality before turning to the 14 racers present.

"Hey, where are the rest of you?" Everyone else seemed confused, so Beat replied.

"Metal and Shadow are piloting, Gum, NiGHTS and Pudding are bitching about Reala in the bathroom and Amigo is listening."

"Bitching? What on Earth for?"

"Reala poured milk down NiGHTS' shirt", Beat hid a smirk expertly, along with Ulala.

"Oh…" Danica tentatively tip-toed down the hallway, running back and out of the way as Amigo was chased by an outraged Pudding.

"You perverted monkey! How DARE you eavesdrop on our conversation! Get BACK HERE!" Pudding yanked off one of her leg-high go-go boots and threw it towards Amigo, achieving a successful headshot. He collapsed onto the floor, an unrealistic red bump behind his left ear and swirls in his eyes.

"Don't _mess _WITH ME!"

**xxASRTxx**

"We're here! We're here!" AiAi shouted excitedly, jumping out of the landed plane, followed closely by a blue blur. Sonic, arms widened, took in the sea breeze air and view from the high-up runway; expansive beaches, sparkling, azure waters with patches of pink/orange/green coral and clear skies above them. They all came over, producing a gasp, a happy sigh or a breath of fresh air. The only ones who didn't seem to care for the view were Metal Sonic, Shadow and Amigo. Metal Sonic was a robot and followed orders without emotion, besides his notable sad sighs and complaining whines. Shadow was tired out from lack of sleep and walked straight over to the villas they would be accommodating for the next 8 days with the still unconscious Amigo slung over his shoulder.

"Okay, guys. Get comfortable. The villas are over that way and you'll be given a couple of things by the clerks there. Your room key card; a map of the entire villa, Sunshine Coast and the locations of the race tracks; this week's itinerary for places you need to be at what times; and your car keys", Danica finished smugly, dangling two pairs of keys on her index finger. Almost all the racers got visibly excited, the exceptions being Metal Sonic, Reala and Ralph.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Instructions? Get accustomed to your roommates and use your map to find out where the hangar is. There, you'll be introduced to your new and improved cars."

**xxASRTxx**

17 of the 20 racers gathered at the doors to the hangar, waiting impatiently for their host racer to give them the all good to see their masterpieces. Those that were missing were NiGHTS (she had already seen her vehicle), Shadow (he was asleep and he'd already seen his vehicle) and Danica Patrick (their host). A piercing noise from an unused speaker scared the racers before they heard her voice.

"**Ready to meet your vehicles?"**

The hangar doors rolled up automatically and purposely slow for dramatic tension. Danica's form lighted up as the doors reached the top and stopped, lights blaring from the roof of the hangar and the shine of the cars blinded the racers temporarily before they gasped. Gleaming cars, quad bikes and tanks stood before them in all their new glory and Sonic immediately spotted a Blue beauty, running up to it. It was his "Speed Star", but upgraded into a sports car with two of his trademark quills on the back. Almost at the brink of tears of joy, he hugged the shiny vehicle possessively.

"Thank you, Danica!"

Tails jogged up to him staring thoroughly at the vehicle parked next to his. His MTP-01 Whirlwind was upgraded, he could tell!

All of the other racers had similar reactions:

Knuckles' vehicle was styled like a backwards trike with a design influenced by himself in a gliding stance.

Amy's didn't have much of a difference except for a seemingly-better paint job and a more rounded version of her Pink Cabriolet.

Eggman owned a red six-wheeled 'tank' that has his face on it.

Metal Sonic's vehicle was an upgraded version of the "Metal Booster".

Beat's entire vehicle had changed, from a street racer to a quad bike themed in tribute to the GGs.

Gum's first car was similar to Beat's quad bike, but coloured white and neon green.

AiAi came across a yellow F-1 car similar to the one he had in the last tournament, resembling bananas.

MeeMee's car was a pink copy of AiAi's vehicle.

Amigo now owned a four-wheeled toy train inspired by his previous racing kart.

Ulala's vehicle was a white backwards trike with her Space Channel 5 logos.

Pudding's new vehicle reminded her of an aircraft she had a couple of years ago while working at Space Channel 42; a green, futuristic car.

Vyse owned an old-fashioned steampunk race car similar to his airship "The Delfinius".

Reala's vehicle was a black convertible with red rims and white stripes, alike his appearance.

Ralph looked upon a jeep with a wrecking ball in the boot.

Finally, Alex placed his hands on a red capsule-like vehicle resembling a Peticopter/V-22 Osprey hybrid with JanKenPon engines.

"Say hello to your new best friend", Danica smiled, earning many more grins of enjoyment from the other racers.


End file.
